🏃‍♂️✨ The beginning of a running story

My name is Robert, I am 47 years old and I come from Split 🌊 (now it would be fitting to continue that I collect napkins and love everything young people love 😄, but I would miss the point). I started running like any baby 👶, as soon as I got on my feet, and then I learned to walk and later forgot how to run naturally and properly. Then I reminded myself in shorter phases and irregularly from puberty onwards, unsystematically running two half marathons 🏃‍♂️, but I started running regularly from the age of 37, when I realized that the consequences of all the beer drunk up to that point 🍺 would not disappear on their own. It was road running with a few completed half marathons, because who has ever seen those madmen 😅 running up and down hills and forests 🌲. However, after a bilateral herniated disc 💥, from age 41 onwards I slowly discovered the charms and benefits of trail running 🏞️, and at 43 I ran my first ultra 🏅. Here I should highlight my non-trail friends 🤝 who pulled me into this community, which is—probably thanks to a rush of endorphins 😊, endocannabinoids, sometimes adrenaline ⚡, and definitely serotonin 😄—an indescribably healthy, dear, and wonderful company ❤️.

⛰️🌿 Love for trail and freedom

So, some people first started hiking 🥾 to start running in those mountains, while for me it was the opposite 🔄: I first started running, which led my path into the mountains ⛰️. The feeling when you conquer a ridge 🏔️ and then “fly” along it 🕊️, becoming part of the untouched nature around you 🌿, is indescribably beautiful, just like the feeling when you charge downhill ⬇️ through constantly changing terrain, with your legs naturally intertwining, braking, accelerating ⚡, and constantly changing the body’s center of gravity. Simply put, running motivates me with the feeling of freedom 🕊️. Running is also rewarding because as much as you put into it 💪, that much will be returned to you, and there is always something to learn 📚, improve, and progress in 📈. This winter season ❄️, for the first time, I included a stronger base in my training (which is incomparably weaker than that of better runners 😅) below the lower lactate threshold (read: more slower-paced kilometers 🐢) with a few stronger and faster workouts ⚡, while trying to maintain a higher cadence (read: more steps per minute 👣), which brought a better result 🏆 in these first few races of the year.

🎯🔥 Goals, advice, and motivation

So my training is a combination of road running 🛣️, trips to the mountains ⛰️ and hills surrounding Split 🌊: Mosor, Perun, Kozjak 🏔️, as well as strength training 💪 in the park using body weight and resistance bands. My desire is to continue improving my results 📈 as long as possible, keeping in mind that sooner or later a moment will come ⏳ when I will find myself on the declining slope of time’s toll, while being aware that it is essential to heal and maintain health ❤️. I experience races primarily as a competition with myself 🧠, and only then with those who I feel are close to me fitness-wise. My goals for next year are to run a 100-mile race 🏁, continue discovering new trails 🧭 and challenges, and enjoy running 😊, because if there is no joy, then there is no point. If you are thinking about starting to run 🤔 – what is holding you back? Start slowly 🐢 and focus on yourself, not others. Every new day in which you raise your heart rate ❤️ is progress. Every achievement of small goals 🎯 is a joy 😊. Slowly, results will follow. Today it is easy to find information 📱 on how to run correctly; you just need to filter relevant sources from those that merely gather clicks 🖱️. And know that what works for one person may not work for another. Everyone is built differently, every metabolism is different, and we all have different feet 👣 and legs, so there is nothing left to do but explore 🔍 and test which gear 🎽 and nutrition 🥗 suit your running best. If you manage to fall in love with running ❤️, you will love yourself and the people around you who deserve it more 🤍. As I say to my better half 💑: what more could you want, I escape from you every weekend 😄 and then come right back to you. And one last Grunf-style quote for the end 😄 – only forward 🚀, never back!